Obama’s Nobel
I can’t top what Michael Binyon at the UK Times Online wrote, so I’ll let him take over for a moment:
The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself.
Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.
Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.
…. they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.
Geez, and he isn’t really even black (”Mr. Obama is only 6.25% African Negro”), except by twisted, pathetic self-definition.
Kaus is right that Obama should turn the award down. It would actually be an impressive move. The odds of it happening appear to be zip, zero, and nada. The tragedy is that Obama, if he doesn’t already, will more than likely convince himself that he really does deserve it.
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UPDATE: Mary Katharine Ham at the Weekly Standard tells us who the Nobel Committee passed over.
UPDATE 2: Real Clear Politics has 7-plus minutes of priceless Rush audio with Dittocam video. Rush is right that this is an attempt to emasculate our foreign policy beyond what has happened already in just 8-1/2 months.
This is truly embarrassing! Obama? Has done nothing but drive up unemployment and stagnate the economy. But since he is not George W. Bush, the European lefties love him.
At least we should see upcoming jokes on Leno and SNL.
Comment by MAS1916 — October 9, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Yeah, since he took office Iran has redoubled its nuclear efforts while citizens are murdered in the streets, Afghanistan and Iraqs progress have seen rollbacks big ones in the formers case, Russia has become aggressive again, terrorists in Gaza are reloading etc.
Not to mention how he has stabbed allies like Israel and Britain in the back.
But it’s all about “re-engaging” with the world, in other words kissing the ass of every tyrant, dictator and thug and the democracies that appease them all in the name of false unity and pseudo-peace. Those Nobels love their precious “multilateralism,” no matter how it has failed to bring peace and freedom to the world time and again, and in fact has often done the opposite. But it’s all about style and appearances with the Prize anymore, damn any substance.
Update: Obama has accepted the award, yet he “doesn’t deserve it.” Fine than, instead of accepting the award, demand they give to the Chinese dissident or the Afghan woman.
Comment by zf — October 9, 2009 @ 2:17 pm